Archives for February 2015

Thank you All Recipes for this delicious goodness! Life has been crazy busy with sports, other kids events, etc, etc, etc and it’s not going to slow down as we head into baseball season! 🙂 I’m always in need of quick and easy dinner recipes and the crockpot is my best friend on these crazy days that both boys have sports practices, games, etc. I found these yummy BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, made them Monday night and they were a total hit with my hubs and kids! I will definitely be making these again in the next month!

Has anyone ever read the AllRecipes magazine? Is it worth a subscription? I’m going to check it out this weekend and if I LOVE it, I will be giving away a 1 year subscription next month, so check back! 😉

DIRECTIONS:
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot
Sprinkle the spices on top and then pour the beer over the chicken
Cook for 8 hours on low
Shred the meat between two forks and mix together
Add the BBQ sauce and stir, making sure to coat all of the chicken.
Serve on your favorite buns. I served it with my kids favorite fruit salad.

2. My husband! I’m so grateful I married a man who is so helpful, so fun to do life with, and he’s easy on the eyes too! 😉

3. My kids! Never a dull moment but wouldn’t be as much fun without them!

4. My parents! Happy 43rd Anniversary today, Mom & Dad! So fun watching you two love each other, especially through the hardships of life! Such an example to us of what true commitment looks like!

5. New Recipes… It’s been fun trying new recipes out this week to keep things fun and fresh!

6. Sports… If it weren’t for the boys sports teams, we wouldn’t know half of the amazing families we have come to know!

7. Friends! Thankful we have some pretty phenominal people surrounding us!

8. Grandparents——–> Sometimes they know the best way to my kids heart and I truly am indebted to them and thankful for the way they love our babies!

9. My Barefoot Dreams Cozy Chic Blanket! I know it sounds silly, but my extremities have been FREEZING lately and my Shabby blanket is THE.BEST!!! My heart aches for those without homes, or even those without heat or blankets to keep them warm. A small thing I take for granted! :-/

I have made these yummy sandwiches a couple of times in the past month… Everyone in my family loves them and I actually love to use the leftover meat and throw it on top of a fresh salad! Sometimes I just heat up the leftover meat and it it plain… It’s that delish!!! Since it’s a crockpot dish it’s easy to make for a gathering or a large group of people, and I love to make it when we have company! It’s perfect for you fellow busy mamas because it’s quick to throw together in the morning, makes the house smell amazing all day long, and it’s quick to assemble for dinner!

I only got a photo of it in the crockpot because we had company for dinner and I didn’t get a minute to take a photo!

DIRECTIONS:
Place the roast in the crockpot and rub all sides with onion soup packet
Pour beef broth over the roast, cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
After about 7.5 hours, shred the beef with two forks and mix in BBQ sauce.
You can use as little or as much (up to 2 cups) BBQ sauce as you’d like… Some like a lot more and some prefer to have have a tinge of the taste.
Let sit the last 30 minutes and then serve on your bun of choice! I like to serve these with carrot sticks and dip, and this yummy fruit salad!
Voila, easy peasy and so yummy!

Since I love my oils so much and I use them everyday for different things, I wanted to pass on the love and give away a bottle of Young Living Orange oil!
Here are a few uses that may be of interest OR beneficial to you:
* Add to your drinking water
* Boost your mood
* Water retention
* Revive a dull complexion (mix with frankincense)
* Revive tired muscles
* Relieve fatigue
* Help relieve cold and canker sores
* Cleanse the colon
* Supports immune system
* Insomnia
* Wrinkles

Just the smell of this oil is enough to make me SWOON… It’s always very uplifting and I love to diffuse it in our house!
Enter my giveaway to receive a free bottle for yourself and you can reap the benefits as well! I will announce the winner here on my blog, on instagram and will email the winner to notify… Good luck!

Last week I spent a little time being crafty while the baby napped! I have been looking for a little shirt for Kenley with the initial ‘K’ on it and hadn’t found anything I loved so I decided to make my own! It’s so cute on her! 🙂 Looking forward to doing some more crafting during nap time and while the boys are at school this week… It’s kept me busy lately and it’s just what I’ve needed to help me relax. We have another busy week this week and this is a little ‘me’ time in the midst of the chaos! 🙂

I have been looking for some new bows for K’s hair, specifically in White, Grey and Black! No such luck for exactly what I was looking for so I made some this week and got so many compliments that a few people have placed orders! So if you are interested, they are $6 each or 2 for $10 and $2 shipping. 🙂 I love them so much in sweet Kenley’s hair! Gah, she melts this mama!

Thankful that it’s Friday… I’ve got all of my babes home today and I’m just feeling so thankful that I get to be a wife to an amazing man who loves me and our kids and works so hard for us. Life truly is so much sweeter when you get to do life side by side with your best friend! And I’m thankful for my kids… Their loud boisterous voices and their endless (exhausting) energy, their giggles, their messes and their sweet loving nature. I am the winner in this family… my cup runneth over! I’m so undeserving of the precious gift that The Lord has given to me!

The past two days have left me reflecting… Life is too short! I’ve re-learned this and re-lived this a lot in the past 5 months! Loss after loss for us and those around us, near and far alike… It’s starting to affect my soul and the very way I live! It doesn’t get any easier, it only seems to get harder and the pain of it all more real! From my Grandad to my husbands Grandma who were old, to a baby lost in the womb… A child or a grown person whose life was still cut short because of crazy fluke instances… It just doesn’t seem fair!

What I do know, though, is that I want to love those around me in ways you can’t merely put into words. I want to cherish every moment like it’s my last, and I want to serve those around me and show Christ to those that know Him, and especially to those who don’t. I want to live my life for a Greater purpose and be remembered for the good and for showing Christ’s love and character to all.

It’s so easy to get caught up in ourselves and our everyday mundane life, but my goal is to knock those walls and be more intentional, more filled with purpose! I want my days to be filled with the mind frame of how I can better the world and not how others can better my world. The truth is, I am a selfish person and I hate that about myself. I have too many grumpy and grumbling days that I wish I could go back and change. The good thing is that everyday is a new day and I’m so thankful His mercies are new each day! God has been working in me and I have changed for the better, but I will never be perfect and I will ALWAYS be a work in progress! I do want to strive to better myself in every way though and I want to be a light in this dark, dark world!

I was thankful to wake up early this morning and get laundry done. Folding laundry reminds me that I have blessings all around me and each stain represents something that we have been through… A part of us. I’m grateful for those knee stains because it means that my children have legs and can run, have fun and be free… A privilege that not all have and that hits close to home for me. I’m thankful for the food stains because it means our bellies are full, another small thing we so easily take for granted every day. I’m thankful for the marker stains because it means that my children can write, draw and be creative. The joy of it all leaves me overwhelmed with gratefulness and proves how blessed I am.

Our days are numbered, friends! Hug your loved ones tighter today, let them know that you love them! You never know when the dreaded day will come that you may not get that chance again, so do it while you can! Be thankful in ALL things, knowing that even in the bad there is purpose. Remember that we all have our struggles, and many have things worse than we do so show grace to all you come into contact with, because you never know the pain they may be living with OR holding onto. Be thankful. Be hopeful. And thank God for the blessing of this moment… He loves you like no other!

We had friends over for dinner on Sunday evening and they brought a yummy fruit salad. It was’t your traditional fruit salad which I thought was fun… It had vanilla pudding in it! At first I wasn’t sure what I’d think but as soon as I tasted it I thought it was delish! She said it was super easy, which is what I love these days with a toddler always on my hip, so I asked for the recipe! Serve it chilled… really fun for a potluck, or whatever!

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine peaches (with juice), pineapples (with juice), and vanilla pudding mix.
Mix well until pudding is dissolved.
Stir in strawberries, banana, blueberries and grapes
Chill for 3 hours and serve.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

We had an extremely fun weekend being adventurous around our city!
Thursday was my boys class Valentine’s parties and I always love helping and seeing all of the kids and how they interact! Both of their classes have an awesome blend of kids! Last week was H.E.A.R.T Week at their school and everyday was a different theme! Monday was Pajama Day and they did things revolving around Honor! Tuesday was Hero Day and they dressed up as their heroes… It was also the day that revolved around Empathy. Wednesday was Crazy Clash Day and revolved around Accountability and Respect. My boys wore neon and had a blast! Thursday was Red and Pink Day and revolved around Teamwork! We played tons of games at their party that all involved teamwork!

Thursday evening we opted for a Family Movie Night after Kenley went to bed and we all laughed our heads off and had a blast snuggling on the couch! 🙂

Our kids don’t have school on Fridays (which I LOVE) so we went to the farm to pick up some eggs and the boys got to hold a little quail and we got a few fresh quail eggs right then! So cute, so fun and so so yum!

We spent that afternoon putzing around the Japanese Gardens. I had never been there before and I hear it’s amazing with the blooms in the spring and the colors of the leaves in the fall but I thought it was gorgeous even right now! There is a lookout point there that overlooks the city and you can see Mt Hood which was glorious on Friday because it was a clear, beautiful sunny day! All 3 kids LOVED it and hubs and I had fun with them for sure! Kenley loved the Koi fish and the boys enjoyed the bridge and landscape. I can’t wait to go back again in the spring.

Saturday we were pulled in different directions because Cooper and Camden had basketball games on opposite sides of the city. While Kenley napped later that afternoon, hubs took the boys to play baseball so I could have a little quiet time… 🙂 He cooked an amazing steak dinner for the family and I loved spending the evening all together! We ended up watching the All Star Slam Dunk Contest and the boys cheered and went WILD!!!

Sunday was church and a very lax day which was perfect! The boys played outside again in the sunshine and I crafted while Kenley napped. We had friends for dinner and did Pulled BBQ Beef Sandwiches and they brought a YUMMY unique Fruit Salad which I will post the recipe for on Thursday! Yesterday was a holiday (Presidents Day) so the boys didn’t have school and we got more time for family fun! Boys finished up their homework and then we played basketball outside, went to the park and played baseball and rode bikes with the neighbor kids!

This morning I am enjoying the quietness of having the boys back at school and am about to catch up on the laundry that piled up over the weekend! :O Hope y’all have a great week… Did you do anything fun over the long weekend?

Not sure why I’m feeling compelled to write this morning, but I do. I had a frustrating situation this morning that left me super annoyed and on top of that I thought it was Wednesday so I frantically ripped all of the sheets off the beds and threw them in the wash to get […]

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Omigosh I LOVE this song and have had it on constantly lately! So grateful I serve a good Father who is ALWAYS there in those moments that I so desperately need Him whether I am seeking Him or not… It brings such a peace over my soul knowing that I am so dearly and deeply […]